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Crackin The Krakken

I've got a new ship, The Krakken. It's a battlecruiser, Drake style and it's bad ass. Been using it to help the Caldari Navy out. Not making friends anytime soon with the Gallente but hey, you can be friends with everyone. I may have to get some help with the current mission. We barely made it out with the ship, 3 Mil in repairs and I'm not quite sure I'm ready to go back. Maybe after a few beers.

Taking a little R & R with the crew planet side. Beautiful day for cooking out and listening to some music. Should be interesting to say the least. More when we return.

Looking for a Section 8

We must be crazy, we joined the Section 8 alliance. A lot of them have chosen to move down and help us start taking control of low-sec. I've already met some really good pilots and we've seen how the politics really come into play. I'm glad there are pilots who like to delve into the politics but it's too bad you can't elect to stay the hell out of them. Always seems like we're stuck in the middle of something but hey, that's how we like it. Would be boring otherwise.

It's time to start organizing the intel side of the alliance and see who's got interest. I do miss the days of hanging out, exploring and living in Wormhole though, I have to make that work out better next time. To do that requires ISKies though and seeing how I have very little, I better find us a job.

Going Dark

Running dark and running silent, just the way I like it out here. We're really on a roll and it won't take us nearly as long to get this system finished up as it did for the last one. 51 moons overall and about 2 hours time after all will be said and done. That also assumes we don't run into any unforeseen circumstances.

Crew is doing well. Of course it's my cream of the crop exploration crew. I've been asked a lot lately about the size of the crews on the different types of ships I fly. Of course the exact number is classified but I generally see it as follows:

Frigates: 5 - 15 crew members
Cruisers/Battlecruisers: 20 - 50 crew members
Battleships: 800 - 1500 crew members
Carriers: 2,000 - 5,000 crew members

Of course it all depends on the mission and the ship. For instance the survey and intel mission I'm on now requires about 4 crew members to safely keep the ship going around the clock. If we were conducting deep strikes then I may have double or triple that many in case we take casualties in battle and to assist with battlestations.

Eve Gate Expedition - Part II, The Journey Home

We'll, I've been out to the edge and took a look at the Eve gate. Just looked like more space. It was strangely settling somehow, though in a way that I can't explain. It could have just as easily been the beer. We're on our way back to HQ now. We'll have to figure out what to get into once we get there.

Eve Gate Expedition - Part I, The Search for Enlightenment

We've set off for a trip to the Eve Gate. I've heard only rumors but there is something that is drawing me there. I'm being accompanied by my first mate, the mechanic and the cook. All volunteered to go and understand the risk, they are all Caldari and they are feeling compelled to go as well. We outfitted a Condor with a prototype cloak, micro warp drive, cap charger and warp stabilizer. We're set for speed and hiding.

The Eve Gate is where our forefathers from Earth first entered into New Eden. Something destroyed the gate and it is said that there are still strong magnetic fields surrounding the remains. We've been warned not to go and it's almost like the place has turned into the edge of the universe or something. There is only one way to find out.

The first mate at least remembered to stock the beer cooler for the trip.

The Name of the Game is Intel

Two systems, 71 moons surveyed in 4 days and that includes drawing up the detailed POS and mineral report. There was one snag in the second op which was 52 of the 71 moons. I was trying to break in a new recruit.

After scanning 15 moons, he loses the results and had to start all over. It took every bit of patience I had not to turn the Chappa loose on this guy. He kept saying how every POS he warped to had warp bubbles and he was taking fire. I had to explain to him that those were the shields and he shouldn't target anything. What can you say besides, noob. He had some potential and a little interest he was just hard to get along with. Anyway, that's why my first officer's primary job is keeping the beer cooler stocked. Which.....

He forgot to stock the cooler with beer before we left port. He spent the rest of the mission washing the windows, on the outside of the ship. Yes, I did give this one a spacesuit and he survived. The best thing was waiting til he just got out of his suit and saying, "You missed a spot.". The whole crew got in on that one. Someone even filed out an official safety concern report about the smudge that was blocking his pristine view of space from the enlisted crews head.

I bet I have cold gorram beer on the next trip.

Mining Operatives

A couple of the gang....

 McLad McHulkin ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 Hit and Run by Matrixx ^^^^^^^^^^

 Did you see the size of that veld ^^^^^^^^^

Views Like No Other

Sometimes you ask yourself, "Why the hell am I out here in this void?". It's days like today that remind us of why....

and then there's the isk ;)

Charlie Foxtrot

What a Charlie Foxtrot (Cluster Fuck). We did manage to get one gun functional and ammo loaded and it did manage to take out one of the gorram mercs seiging us. These guys were well equipped, motivated and organized. Although I missed the battle thanks to the corporate charity event I was forced to attend I did hear we put up at least a bit of a fight for them. In the end it was not enough, the POS fell.

The worst part is that Frenchies now possess my favorite hauler, Karma Train II. I'm glad I farted in the seats a lot but doubt they will notice the smell. Frenchies smell bad anyway. Time to get back to HQ, gather my ships that are scattered about and plan for the retribution that will come at a time and place we dictate.

I bet the gorram bastards are drinking our alcohol as well. Their day will come and I hope to have a front row seat.

Gorram Corporate Functions

Despite my pleas that my corp mates needed my assistance this evening my wife drags me off to some high and fancy tadoo at fleet headquarters. Some charity drive she was involved in had to celebrate the end of a money making campaign.

The POS is scheduled to come out of reinforced mode this evening and an attack is imminent. One thing I've learned though, Mercs or not once my wife gets it in her head she needs to show me off there's no since in arguing. At least they'll be an open bar so I'll get those drinks I've been needing the last couple of days.

Where's the Spirits

Evidently the frenchie we killed had friends in high places. We blasted this guy when we found him lost in the WH space. It was his fault, he refused to get out of his ship.

The joke is on us though as it appears he had some affiliation with the corp that has the POS setup in the WH. They hired a Merc corp to come in and remove us from the system. Just like the French not to be able to fight their own battles, that's a fact that goes back to the Earth that was.

Unfortunately, it does not appear that the merc corp are French. They have their shit wired tight and we did not. We had some defenses out but had never loaded the guns and had a lot of the defenses still inside the hangar bay. When I woke up this morning and tried to make my way to the POS I found that we were locked out AND the POS was in reinforced mode.

We're trying to get the guns repaired and new ammo in as the ammo we brought is inside the offlined Hangar bay. Evidently anything that draws power goes offline when the POS goes into reinforced mode. The worst part of it all, all the alcohol is locked up in that offline hangar bay. Damn I need a drink.

Setup and Mining

The Tower is up after pulling an all nighter, the crew is beat but satisfied. To celebrate we've started running a small mining op. The other POS in the system has shown no activity and we're gearing up for mining operations. This has been too easy, I have a funny feeling something is about to go down.

Operation Alice

I'm down the rabbit hole and the burrow is looking good. It all happened so fast it's unbelievable. 3 months of planning and then POW it's here. The crew is excited and I'm glad I brought 250 cases of alcoholic beverages.

We're in the midst of the setup but so far all has gone great, I hope I didn't just jinx us. More as the night progresses.

Daily Grind

Some days you win, some days you don't and lately I haven't been winning. I've had fun, but I haven't been winning. Exploring and finding wormhole space is tediously grueling. I've been taking breaks and chilling out by trying to blow things up, mostly PVE missions.

The prepping for the Op is going well and it's getting larger everyday. We're into the final preparations and the logistics that will be needed are pretty staggering. We should have a pretty defensible outpost setup. The hardest part is finding the right system at the right time.

We've got the best pilots in the corp involved, the most dedicated pilots. Nothing less than a successful operation is possible with these pilots, they accept nothing less.